Jim Kavanagh enters his 43rd season as a coach at Holy Cross and
15th as the Richard L. Ahern ’51 Director of Cross Country,
Track and Field in 2013-2014. Kavanagh joined the Crusader staff in
1971 as Harold "Skip" O’Connor’s assistant, and was
appointed head coach in 1977 when his mentor retired. Coach
Kavanagh taught math and coached part-time at Holy Cross for 28
years before accepting the position of director of men’s and
women’s track and cross country on a full time basis in the
summer of 1999.

The Holy Cross cross country and track and field programs have
had many years of success under Kavanagh’s tutelage. Kavanagh
has had five student-athletes named Crusader of the Year and four
receive the Honorable John P. Cooney Memorial Award. He has coached
seven New England champions, seven Patriot League champions and
hundreds of Patriot League Academic honor roll student-athletes.
Four times Kavanagh’s student-athletes have been named the
Patriot League Scholar Athlete of the year with Dan Conti earning
the honor three times (2003 indoor, 2002 & 2003 outdoor). Conti
was also selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-America team twice
(2002 & 2003), along with Emily Hogan in 2001.

In 2011, all of Kavanagh’s hard work and dedication to
Holy Cross athletics was honored as he was inducted to the Holy
Cross Hall Of Fame. The 2010 cross country season saw the
women’s team place fifth at the Patriot League Championship
and the men take seventh. Twenty four members of the cross country
teams were named to the Patriot League Academic Honor roll, along
with 29 members of the men’s track and field team. At the
2011 Patriot League Outdoor Championship, Chase Bradford led the
Crusaders with a second place finish in the javelin.

Kavanagh led the 2009 women’s cross country team to a
fifth place finish at the Patriot League Championship, the
team’s best finish since the 2001 season. Paige Sutherland
became the first women’s runner since 1998 to earn first team
All-Patriot League honors for her second place finish at the
Patriot League Championship. Twelve members of the cross country
teams were named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll and five
Crusaders earned Patriot League weekly honors. On the track,
Kavanagh saw 19 members of the men’s team named to the
Patriot League Academic Honor Roll.

In 2008, Kavanagh led both the men’s and women’s
cross country teams to a sixth place finish at the Patriot League
Championship. He had 28 student-athletes named to the Patriot
League Academic honor roll and four Crusaders earned Patriot League
weekly honors, including Sutherland earning Patriot League weekly
honors three times. Seven of Kavanagh’s runners competed at
the ECAC Championships and four freshmen competed at the IC4A
Championships. The 2008-2009 track and field season was filled with
excitement as Kavanagh coached Brad Mish to Holy Cross’ first
New England championship in the 5,000 meter indoor run and first
championship since 1995. Mish also broke the Holy Cross marathon
record that was set by Doug Wood in 1972.

A Rhode Island native, Kavanagh excelled in track and football
at La Salle Academy and later at Boston College from 1965-1968. In
track he was a three-time New England champion, twice in the discus
and once in the shot put. In each of his last three years he
journeyed to the NCAAs as a hammer thrower, finishing second in his
senior year. He qualified for the 1968 Olympic trials in the
16-pound hammer throw and finished 10th with a career best toss of
199’11". He was a four time All-American in the hammer and
weight throw, an NCAA qualifier in the discus and the third place
finisher in the East Coast AAU decathlon championship. In football
he enjoyed a fine two-year career which led to his being drafted by
the Kansas City Chiefs. A serious ankle injury forced him to leave
Kansas City and later Buffalo.

Kavanagh lives in Shrewsbury, Mass., where his wife Elizabeth is
the librarian at St. John’s High School. They are the proud
parents of three children: Michael, Brian and Jane.

College of the Holy CrossDepartment of Athletics 1 College Street Worcester, MA 01610